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Don't skim this. You'll want the details when you're telling the story at dinner. Tonight and Saturday, Canadian Maestro and soprano Barbara Hannigan is making her conducting debut with the Phil — and singing the lead role in Poulenc's La Voix humaine. Simultaneously. Not taking turns. Both. At once. For 75 minutes with no intermission.

In sports, we'd call this a player-coach. Think Doug Harvey — another Canadian who came to New York — suiting up for the Rangers in '61 while coaching the team to their first playoff berth since 1958. Or Kenny Dalglish, who managed Liverpool (my favorite, along with Wrexham 😉) from the pitch in the '80s, winning league titles while still scoring goals. Hannigan is doing the classical music version of that, except it's an orchestra and she's singing in French.

This Swiss Army knife of an artist has 85 world premieres under her belt. When she danced en pointe (yes, she does that as well) as Lulu in Brussels, the NYT crossed the Atlantic to cover it. If she were a cat she'd be dead, because her curiosity led her, at 40, when most artists are settling into a lane — to pick up a baton and become a conductor. She won the 2025 Polar Music Prize. She now runs the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. The NY Phil is roughly her 20th orchestra. The rest read like a hit list of the best of the best. Normal career trajectory, this is not.

La Voix humaine is a one-woman opera about a woman on the phone with the lover who's leaving her, very relatable. Hannigan told Playbill, every conducting gesture doubles as theatrical acting. Live video projects her close-ups behind the orchestra while she faces the musicians.

The other half of the program is Strauss's Metamorphosen — written in the final weeks of World War II as the opera houses and concert halls of Germany were being destroyed. He quotes Beethoven's funeral march and writes 'IN MEMORIAM!' at the end. Not a light evening.

Since 2021, this Renaissance woman has performed these pieces across Europe, but this is the U.S. debut. After Saturday, she's gone. And six months from now, when someone at a dinner party says "I saw this woman sing and conduct an opera at the same time," you'll either say "I was there" or "wait, what?" I'd love to buy her a drink and raise a glass at Fiorello's after.

Tickets: Fri 4/24 & Sat 4/25, 7:30pm. $67–$222.

Editor's note: This piece has been updated from the emailed version with additional context and corrected links.

Yes, today only. 3–6pm at Verdi Square (Broadway/Amsterdam/73rd): FREE wildflower seed giveaway, courtesy of the NYC Biodiversity Task Force and State Sen. Erik Bottcher. (We're not endorsing anyone — we just love freebies and seeds.)

Grab a packet. Hand your kid an egg carton and some dirt and let them think they invented gardening. Or find the saddest tree pit on your block — you know the one, scattered cigarette butts and sad dead leaves — and turn it into the envy of your block. Tree-pit gardening is the UWS power move nobody talks about but everybody notices.

Things are heating up on 72nd. The DOT's proposed two-way protected bike lane — which would remove a travel lane from Riverside Drive to CPW — has people picking sides faster than a co-op board election. We've been tracking this since Issue #4 and covered the CB7 hearing in Issue #6. The public comment window is still open. We're not taking a side — we're just telling you the door's closing. If you walk it, bike it, drive it, or push a stroller on it — speak now or hold your peace when the cones show up.

Sold: 🏠 The Dakota just got a new neighbor. Yes, his name is Milos and he plays tennis. No, he did not sell Jerry a racket. Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic — the 6'5" serve machine — paid $5.3 million in cash for a three-bedroom with three fireplaces and 12-foot ceilings. He retired from tennis two weeks after signing the contract. This Milos beat Federer at Wimbledon, which, say what you will about the Dakota co-op board, probably got him past the interview.

Reopened: 👟 Vuori — 201 Columbus Ave at 69th. Back in business as of April 18 after a burst pipe shut them down for a few weeks. Athleisure crisis averted.

Arrived: 🏗️ The shaft has landed. The new subway elevator shaft at 81st & CPW was trucked in at night, craned over Central Park West, and dropped into a hole drilled through Manhattan bedrock — all while stopping traffic for ten minutes. Glass comes next. Elevator opens by Christmas. Accessibility on the west side, one very large metal tube at a time.

Signage up: 🥡 Deli Chin — 138 W 72nd St (the Pastrami Queen window). If you haven't heard about this one yet, ask your group chat. They've been talking about it all week.

Jacket or No Jacket? 🌤️🌧️🌥️ — Today's your day: 65°F, barely a cloud, no excuses. Saturday is 49°F with rain — the kind of day where you open the weather app, close the weather app, and rewatch Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Sunday pulls itself together: 52°F, mostly dry, the kind of weather where you bring a jacket and carry it the whole time.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

NY Philharmonic: La Voix humaine with Barbara Hannigan — Fri & Sat, 7:30pm, David Geffen Hall. $67–$222. Full story in the Scoop. Yada yada yada.

//shrouded\\ — jaamil olawale kosoko — 7:30pm, David Rubenstein Atrium. Poetry, sound, and movement from a multidisciplinary artist who blurs every line between them. The Atrium is Lincoln Center's living room — small, FREE, and nobody fighting you for a seat.

How to Survive a Blackout — 7–9pm, St. Paul & St. Andrew (263 W 86th). Staged reading from Center at West Park. If your emergency plan is "call my super," this might be worth attending.

Shapes of Change: Time Lapse Dance — 7pm, Adler Hall, NY Society for Ethical Culture (2 W 64th). Jody Sperling's company turns 25 this year. Program A tonight, plus a reception honoring Gail Merrifield Papp — the woman who ran free theater in Central Park for three decades. PWYW.

Juilliard Drama: Aristophanes' The Frogs — 7:30pm, Juilliard School. A 2,400-year-old Greek comedy performed by kids who'll be on Broadway in three years. It's FREE. Go before they start charging.

ReelAbilities Comedy Night — 8pm, Kaplan Penthouse, Rose Building. Disabled comedians headline the Big Umbrella Festival's comedy night. Funny is funny — this lineup proves it. Ages 16+. PWYW. ASL interpreted.

La maison des bois — 1pm, Walter Reade Theater. This is the first-ever U.S. theatrical release of Maurice Pialat's 1971 masterwork, in a brand-new 4K restoration from Janus Films. If you know Pialat, you've been waiting for this. If you don't, this is a director who filmed childhood, family, and loss with the kind of honesty most filmmakers are too polite to attempt. French with English subtitles, 148 min. Also screening Sat 3pm & Sun 3pm. $17-$20.

NYCB All Balanchine III — Fri evening & Sat matinee. Symphony in C / Agon / Firebird. Koch Theater. Three Balanchine ballets for the price of one ticket — and if you're under 30, rush seats are $30. Tell your friends it cost more.

NY Comedy Club UWS (236 W 78th) — Vinny Guadagnino at 6:15pm, Josh Adam Meyers at 8:30pm, Calise Hawkins at 11:30pm. Tickets $36–$58 + $20 food minimum + 18% auto-grat. Real cost: ~$70–80+. Ages 16+.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

NYCB Innovators & Icons — Sat evening. Voices / In Memory of… / Diamonds. Koch Theater. Three pieces, three moods, one of the best companies on earth doing what they do 400 feet from your subway stop. $54-$297

//shrouded\\ — 6pm, David Rubenstein Atrium. FREE. Second chance if you miss Friday — and you shouldn't miss it twice.

Shapes of Change: Time Lapse Dance — 7pm, Program B + artist talkback. Same venue as Friday. Different program, and this time the artists stick around to talk about it. PWYW.

Silent Clowns Film Series: The Gold Rush — 2:30pm, Symphony Space (Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 95th). Chaplin eating his shoe in a blizzard, on a rainy Saturday afternoon at 95th Street. Sometimes the universe programs your weekend for you. $9–$12.

Moving Memory: NEXT GEN — 7:30pm, Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th). Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup's intergenerational performance — younger and older dancers sharing the stage. $20 / PWYW.

My Little Magic Shop: Community Day — 697 Amsterdam Ave at 94th. Pay-by-donation tarot and healing sessions. Whether you believe in tarot or just need someone to listen to you for 20 minutes without checking their phone, it's there.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

Come & Sing with Troy Anthony — 11am, List Hall, Met Opera House. Public community choir — no audition, no experience, no judgment. Part of Jeanine Tesori's series at Lincoln Center. You just show up and sing with strangers. It's either the most terrifying or the most freeing thing you'll do this weekend. FREE.

NYCB Innovators & Icons — Sun performance. Koch Theater. Last chance this weekend. $54-$297.

Exhibition on Screen: Turner & Constable — 6pm, Symphony Space. A documentary about the rivalry between two of England's greatest landscape painters, followed by a Q&A with the producer. Art beef, explained. $16–$17.

Chaotic Good Cafe Walking Group — 10am–12pm. Meet at 200 W 84th, walk to Central Park for the Tulip Fest and Conservatory Garden. Exercise disguised as socializing. FREE (RSVP for punch card).

Last week we asked: Which UWS station should get the next elevator? Here's what you said (17 votes — small sample, loud message):

🚇 Both! Stop this — ADA should be at each station by now (come on Albany): 65%

🚇 86th Street: 29%

🚇 79th Street: 6%

Nearly two-thirds of you said stop picking favorites and just make every station accessible. One person said 79th. We see you, and we respect the specificity.

🌺 Macy's Flower Show: "Homegrown" — OK, it's not a real garden. It's Herald Square. But with Saturday's forecast looking like a punishment from above, the 51st annual Macy's Flower Show might be the best garden you visit this weekend. Stained-glass panels featuring all 50 state flowers, sculptural fabric birds, a LEGO build event, and a Valentino Beauty installation. Open through May 10 during store hours. FREE, no tickets required. Not on the west side, but neither is sunshine on Saturday.

🌷 West Side Community Garden Tulip Festival — FINAL weekend. 89th between Amsterdam & Columbus. Info Days Sat & Sun 10am–6pm with garden members on-site. Over 100 tulip varieties across 1.25 acres. This is your last shot until next spring. FREE.

🪷 The Lotus Garden opens Sundays 1–4pm for the season. 97th between Broadway & West End. A hidden treasure that half the neighborhood still doesn't know about. FREE.

🌸 Riverside Park Cherry Walk — Kwanzan cherries are in their peak window. These are the big, fluffy pink ones. Walk south from around 100th. Bring a camera.

🐦 Central Park Conservancy Tours this weekend:

🏔️ Antarctica! Crew Wanted — Big Umbrella Festival closing weekend. Ages 6+. Fri/Sat/Sun at 12:30, 3:30, 5:30pm. Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building. PWYW.

🎪 Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre: Little Red's Hood — Sat & Sun, 11am & 1pm. $18/$12. The cottage in Central Park near 79th that you've walked past a hundred times and always meant to go inside? Go inside.

🎨 CMOM Programs — Children's Museum of Manhattan has a full slate this week:

🪄 Broadway Magic Hour — Sat 4/25, 2pm, Broadway Comedy Club (318 W 53rd — NOT on the west side, but worth the trip). Family magic show with Jim Vines & Carl Mercurio. Your kid will be talking about this for a week. From $25.

🦕 AMNH Daily Drop-In Programs — Did you know the Museum has three Learning Labs with drop-in experiences? No reservation, no extra ticket — included with any admission. Discovery Room: preK and up, open daily except Tuesdays. Climate Learning Lab: ages 8+, select weekend days. Human Origins Learning Lab: ages 8+, weekends. Three floors, three reasons to stop saying "we already did the dinosaurs."

Mon 4/27: 51st Chaplin Award Gala honoring George Clooney — Alice Tully Hall. Presenters include Stephen Colbert, Julianna Margulies, Sam Rockwell, John Turturro. Limited Prime tickets $175. Dinner tables from $35K. (We'll take the $175 option.)

Tue 4/28: NYCB Innovators & Icons (evening). Koch Theater. $54-$297.

Wed 4/29: West Side Story screening with Jeanine Tesori — 6:30pm, Francesca Beale Theater (Film at Lincoln Center). PWYW.

Wed 4/29: Selected Shorts: Spring Training with Brian Lehrer — 7pm, Symphony Space (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 95th). Featuring Raúl Esparza and Peter Grosz. $19–$43. In-person + livestream.

Wed 4/29, 10am–1pm: Free Shredding with AARP New York — W 63rd St at West End Ave. Bring your documents, they shred on-site. In partnership with Big Shred NY. Questions: 212-873-0282. FREE.

Thu 4/30: Swans of Harlem — 6:30pm, List Hall, Met Opera. Panel on Karen Valby's book about Dance Theatre of Harlem. Jeanine Tesori series. FREE.

Thu 4/30: Sons of Survivors — 7–8pm, JCC Manhattan (334 Amsterdam at 76th). Holocaust memoir by Aron Hirt-Manheimer & Marty Yura. Moderated by Thane Rosenbaum. Co-produced with FOLCS. $15

Thu 4/30: Chaotic Good Cafe: Wine & Board Game Pairing (Dixit) — 7–10pm, 200 W 84th. $45. The sentence "wine and Dixit" is doing a lot of heavy lifting and we're here for it.

Fri 5/1: Central Park Woodland Walk: The Ramble — 2pm. 90-min guided nature walk through the Ramble, starting at Belvedere Castle. A legit stress-reduction activity. Paid.

Fri 5/1 – Sun 5/3: Margaret Mead Film Festival — AMNH, enter on 77th between CPW & Columbus. The country's longest-running documentary festival, and it's a ten-minute walk from your apartment. This year: a glacier elegy, a coming-of-age story from rural China, and a film that will ruin zombies for you forever (in a good way). Opening night Fri 5/1 includes a reception. Weekend passes $75 ($50 Members). Single screenings $15 ($13 Members/students). These sell out.

♻️ Spring Community Recycling Day — Sunday, April 26, 10am–2pm at JCC Manhattan (334 Amsterdam at 76th). Bring your e-waste (accepted items listed here) and gently used clothing for housing-insecure families. Co-sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer's office and the LES Ecology Center. Volunteer shifts available all day. Clean out your closet. Help your neighbors. It's a two-for-one.

ASP is in full effect with no suspensions until Thursday, May 14 (Solemnity of the Ascension). That's three straight weeks of moving your car, sitting in your car pretending to read while the sweeper passes, or donating $65 to the City of New York because you thought you'd "be right back." You will not be right back. You have never been right back.

Full calendar: nyc.gov/dot

Sugar Bar — Jonathan Arons — Fri 4/24, 8–10pm, 254 W 72nd. Grammy-winning trombonist who's backed Aretha, Stevie Wonder, and Alicia Keys. AGT semifinalist. Call for pricing: 212-579-0222. Also this week: Irini Res & The Jazz Mix (Sat), Rob Silverman & Jazz Quartet (Tue), Burgandy & Friends (Wed), Open Mic w/ Kim Davis (Thu).

Smoke Jazz Club — Joel Ross's Good Vibes Quintet — Fri & Sat (6pm/8pm/10pm), Sun (6pm/8pm). 2751 Broadway at 105th. Blue Note Records artist. $25–$65. 6pm & 8pm sets are dinner shows. Coming next week: Steve Wilson Quintet (Wed 4/29–Sun 5/3, album release).

Dizzy's Club — South African Freedom Day: Sisonke Xonti "UKHOLO" — Fri 4/24, 7pm & 9pm sets. Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th. $65 cover + $25 food/drink minimum. Real cost: ~$90+. Student $30.

Bloomingdale School of Music: Beethoven-Schubert-Chopin — Fri 4/24, 7–8pm. 323 W 108th. 1 hour. FREE.

Oscar Dudamel y su Orquesta — Fri May 1, 7:30pm, David Rubenstein Atrium. Salsa music and dancing led by the father of the NY Phil's new conductor. ¡VAYA! series, in collaboration with the Phil. FREE. Put this on your calendar now.

ihsloane: "Bodrum. We went the first week they opened and have been regulars ever since." — 93rd and Amsterdam. Mother's Day is May 10th. If you haven't made a reservation yet, your mother already knows.

Erin K.: "I'm loving these so much. They have so much personality and such fun, interesting tidbits. Good job, friend!" — We're blushing. Tell your friends. (That's not a suggestion, it's how we grow.)

Lori G. from StretchLab — three locations on the west side — wrote in to say hello. Lori, a UES native reading a UWS newsletter? That's not a subscriber, that's a convert. We could all use a stretch after this issue — am I right? We'll be in touch.

Your turn. Tell us what you think of The West Sider. What are you loving about the UWS right now? Or if you have a burning gripe we’d love to hear that as well. Bonus points for photos. Reply to this email or send it to [email protected]. We screenshot the nice ones and read them to each other.

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That's Issue #8. Two Canadians moved in this week — one to Geffen Hall, one to the Dakota. There are free wildflower seeds at Verdi Square, and 65% of you said every subway station on the west side should have an elevator. It's the Upper West Side or nowhere.

Every subscriber we have found us the old-fashioned way — word of mouth, zero ads, all organic. If you got this from a friend, subscribe. It's FREE and you're reading it anyway.

Keep sharing. Keep showing up. Keep being West Siders.

See you next week.

— The West Sider